Our present invention relates to a transport container holder for use in a motor vehicle which can have a passthrough, especially to the trunk and can be provided in the position of an arm rest or otherwise in a seating structure, for example, for a ski bag.
In German patent document DE 197 27 500 A1, a transport container holder for a motor vehicle is provided in the seating structure or back wall of the vehicle trunk in association with a passthrough enabling, for example, a ski bag to be readily transported.
In the system of DE 197 27 500, a fastening frame is mounted in the vehicle and engages a holding frame of the container module utilizing a latch mechanism operated by an actuating member. The latch structure of that system was relatively complex.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a transport container holder for the purposes described and in applications as has been described for the prior art transport container holder which has a simpler latch structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved transport container holder which facilitates removal and securing of the container module, increases the versatility of such systems and is free from drawbacks of prior art systems.
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the invention, by providing a guide on the fastening frame in which a locking element, preferably a locking bar, is moveable and which at one end is connected with a tension spring and at the opposite end with a tractive element, e.g. a wire or cable.
According to the invention the tractive member, which is held under tension by the spring, is pressed between its ends by the actuating member to draw the bar into its position in which the container module is released. The actuating member is thus moved in a direction transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the tractive element.
According to a feature of the invention, the opposite longitudinal limbs of the fastening frame are provided with respective guide channels receiving the latch bars and their pins which can extend through elongated slots in these limbs. The tractive element, cable or wire connects ends of these bars while respective tension springs engage opposite ends thereof.
A key advantage of the invention is that the actuating arrangement itself is greatly simplified by comparison with the earlier system since a simple transverse displacement of the cable or wire can effect the necessary linear displacement of the locking bar. Of course, the locking bar can be rotatable rather than translatable and the locking formation can be a male or female formation with the counter-locking element on the holding frame being a female or male formation.
More particularly, the transport container holder of the invention capable of incorporation in the vehicle seat or trunk wall structure can comprise:
a fastening frame having a throughgoing opening forming a passthrough into a trunk of a vehicle;
a holding frame of a container positionable on and removable from the fastening frame;
a locking element movable in a guide on the fastening frame and provided with a formation engageable with the holding frame for releasably retaining the holding frame on the fastening frame;
a spring engaged with one side of the locking element for applying a spring force thereto;
a tractive element engaged at one end with another side of the locking element and maintained under tension by the spring force; and
an actuating member acting on the tractive element between ends thereof for drawing the locking element against the spring force into a position wherein the holding frame is released by the formation.